By Robbie Williams

Many people have doubted Sean Payton all the times he’s said Taysom Hill could be the successor to the great Drew Brees at quarterback. Replacing one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time leaves some big shoes to fill, but in Week 11 Hill was able to prove all of those people wrong by playing a great game 30 years in the making.

Taysom Hill battled injuries throughout his college career after waiting to play at BYU until after he had completed a 2 year church mission trip to Australia. He suffered 4 season ending injuries in 5 years at BYU, and to many it may have seemed that it was a losing battle at the time. Hill also lost his brother, Dexter, to an opiate addiction in 2016 before going undrafted and being released by the Green Bay Packers in 2017. He was then picked up off waivers by the New Orleans Saints where he wears the number 7 in honor of his brother, and he has been a shining example during his time in the league of what it means to work hard, be mentally tough, and be a team player.

Whatever he can do to help, he’s there. Whether it be chasing down a return man or blocking punts on special teams, Hill was always able to step up for the Saints. Whether he was tasked with running the ball out of the backfield or in the wildcat, lining up as a tight end and blocking, throwing the ball, or catching it out of the slot, it never mattered. You need it done and he is your man. He has shown that he is a player that will literally do whatever is asked of him. 

That’s why Sean Payton and the rest of the New Orleans Saints all love him and it’s why he got the starting job in Week 11 ahead of presumed second stringer Jameis Winston. He earned it through humility, persistence, and hard work. 

He rewarded his coach and his team for trusting him as well, throwing for 233 yards and completing 18 of 23 passes while also running the ball 10 times for 44 yards and 2 touchdowns. To put that into perspective, Hill had almost as many carries as Alvin Kamara or Latavius Murray while he ran for more yards than either of them. Hill was also able to boast a better average yards per carry at a very respectable 4.9 yards.

He is easily the most versatile and entertaining player to watch in the league. Not just because of his story or his obvious enthusiasm to play the game in any way he can help his team, but also because he is a much better player than anybody outside the Saints organization gives him credit for. 

Up until this point of his career, Hill had been referred to as a “gadget player” more than a “team player” by many who have doubted his readiness to succeed Drew Brees. 

However, after his impressive first start in Week 11, it is reasonable to assume that the 6’2”, 220 pound swiss army knife will continue to be utilized and perform great on the Saints high powered offense.

He also gets an opportunity for a seemingly favorable matchup against a 4-6 Denver Broncos team that has only held its opponents to under 25 points in 3 of their 10 games this season while producing only 10 takeaways in those 10 games. The Broncos did show in Week 11 against the Miami Dolphins and Tua Tagovailoa that they are more than capable of raining on the parade of inexperienced starting QBs that have otherwise looked great in previous matchups. It will certainly be interesting to see how things play out compared with Hill’s first start against Atlanta given that their defense is much weaker than Denver’s.

Regardless of the outcome for the rest of the season, it is hard to not cheer for the BYU product to succeed. Despite how he plays at quarterback until the return of Drew Brees, Taysom Hill has proven that he is more than deserving of getting a shot at quarterback in the NFL. 

Robbie is a sports writer for La Tonique.